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The BJP has arranged 12 special trains and around 5,000 vehicles to transport people to the Palace Grounds in Bengaluru to attend Narendra Modi’s rally. Vicky Nanjappa reports
With over 3.45 lakh registrations and a crowd turn out of over 5 lakh expected, the Bharatha Gellisi (make India win) rally at the BangalorePalace grounds to be addressed by Narendra Modi is expected to cost around Rs 20 crore.
Right from transportation, food, gigantic screens at the venue, the cost of the rally will be at an approximate Rs 20 crore although the Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka estimates it at around Rs 9 crore.
All the money has been raised through sponsors and is accounted for says the rally in-charge, R Ashok, who was the former deputy chief minister of Karnataka.
The BJP has ensured that the arrangements are elaborate and are banking heavily on Narendra Modi to bring the BJP back to winning ways in the state.
Karnataka was ruled by the BJP, but thanks to infighting and poor governance they were pushed to a dismal state in the last elections.
The BJP had collected Rs 10 as registration fee for the rally. Nearly 3 lakh tickets have been sold. The rally, according to the BJP, will be the biggest that India has ever seen. Although the police estimate the crowd turn out at the venue to be around 5 lakh, the BJP puts it over 7 lakh.
The BJP has arranged 12 special trains to transport people from across the state to the city. In addition to this, 3,000 buses, 2,000 vans and cars have been deployed to transport people to the venue. The transportation cost itself is said to be around Rs 5 crore.
The 80 by 60 feet stage has cost the BJP Rs 2 crore.
The VVIP area and four watch towers, 40 giant LED screens would cost the BJP another Rs 3 crore.
Food arrangements for the people attending the rally is estimated at Rs 5 crore. Four kitchens have been set up at the venue.
Massive publicity for the rally has cost the BJP close to Rs 4 crore. This includes posters, bike rallies, advertisements and hoardings.
Modi will be flown from the HAL airport to the Palace Ground by chopper which would cost the BJP around Rs 6 lakh.
Another Rs 1 crore has been spent on purchasing Modi merchandise. T Shirts, caps, mugs, stickers would be distributed at the venue free of cost.
While this is the expense that the BJP would bear, the state machinery too is coughing up a lot of money for the event. As per estimates, the security set up for the rally alone would cost the Karnataka government Rs 5 crore. This includes the deployment of drones, additional forces, CCTVs and barricades across the city among other arrangements.
Nearly 5,000 policemen have been deployed on the ground. Control rooms will receive signals from the drones while people attending the rally will undergo two rounds of frisking.